Remind Me
by beforetherose
Summary: "That's why I love you, cause you remind me of me." - Allison Gilbert is stubborn, hot-headed, and impulsive. Sound like anyone else we know? See what happens when Damon Salvatore comes into her life and two of the same personalities collide. Will they ground each other, or end up spiraling?
1. PROLOGUE

She was no stranger to death.

She had passed him fleetingly many times; caught sight of him in the newspapers and on television. Saw him again when the family dog strayed into traffic, when he took her grandmother after a long battle with cancer, and when her grandfather went with him peacefully in the night not many days later.

The night he came for her parents was the night she started to wonder when he would take her, too.

To be honest, she had expected him to stay away longer than he had. Maybe she should have known better. But, who, at 15 years old, expects to die?

To be murdered.

Regardless, she met him as if he were an old acquaintance with as much understanding and accepting of her situation as she did everything else.

She didn't really expect to wake up again, though.

Although, in the beginning, she didn't expect _vampires_ , either.

* * *

 **Authors Note:**

 **Hey!**

 **So, I'm really hoping there's some interest in this story (obviously)! It'll be my first multi-chapter story and I'm really hoping some people like the idea. Please review and follow, let me know what you think, I'd love to hear it. I'm planning on posting the first chapter soon regardless, but it'd be encouraging to have heard some feedback before then.**


	2. Chapter One

**Author's Note: First of all, I just wanna get the obvious disclaimer out of the way - I do not own, nor am I affiliated with The Vampire Diaries in way, shape or form. It would've all gone down very differently after season one if I had anything to say about it. Also, I just wanna let everyone know that there will be some mild Elena bashing for a little bit, but I hope the chapter kind of explains why Allison is acting the way she is. And! There may be a character or two that you might consider to be OOC but this is just my take on the characters and how they may act with an entirely new character in the mix.**

 **Second, I just wanna thank everyone who favorited the story, and myself as an author, as well as those who set alerts for the story. I also want to thank Dranna03 for leaving a review. I really appreciate it, and I hope you guys all like the first chapter.**

* * *

Mystic Falls is a small town.

It's got nowhere to go, aside from the Grill, which is always overrun by teenagers with nothing better to do, and middle-aged men getting drunk in the early afternoon. It has a population of less than seven thousand, which, even though it sounds like a lot of people given the square footage of the town, makes it impossible to avoid anyone – which is all you'd want to do if the entire town was talking about how your family crumbled after your parents died.

It wasn't so bad before her parents' accident. Bad, as all small towns are, but bearable. Afterwards, though, fuck, there was no standing it.

Everyone knew about the accident, mere hours after it happened. Everyone knew that Elena, Allison's older sister, had gone to party just outside of town, where she got into an argument with her boyfriend, Matt. She called for a drive and when Miranda and Grayson Gilbert went to pick her up, they never made it home. Grayson lost control of the car and it drove off Wickery Bridge into the river below – where Allison's parents both drowned, and Elena was miraculously found alive by the river's edge.

Aside from having to listen to the whispers of people talking about her parents, the worst was when they started in on the remaining members of her family. Aunt Jenna, who was having an understandably hard time transitioning from irresponsible grad student to full-time caregiver of three grieving teenagers. Jeremy, Allison's twin, who was dealing with his grief with the aid of alcohol, drugs, and an older girl from the wrong side of the tracks. And Elena, poor Elena, who spent most of her time writing in her diary at the cemetery and crying her way through residual guilt she felt about her parent's death; in spite of everyone telling her it wasn't her fault.

And despite Allison's hope that she would be forgotten about while the rest of her family took the spotlight, the townspeople couldn't ignore how she was following Jeremy down his path of destruction while simultaneously being the only person in town who was outwardly blaming Elena for her parent's untimely demise. It sounds terrible, she knows. Couldn't she just be glad her sister had survived?

No.

No, it was Elena's fault. There is a cause and effect relationship here. If Elena hadn't went to the party, she wouldn't have fought with Matt that night. If she hadn't fought with Matt, she wouldn't have decided to leave early. If she hadn't left early, her parents would've been safe, at home, and Bonnie would have driven Elena home like they had planed. There's always the chance that if Bonnie was driving, her car wouldn't have slid on the wet roads. There's always the chance that the accident would've been completely avoided. And even if they had gone off the road, there's no guarantee they would've been injured, let alone killed.

Everything that happened that night was dependent on Elena's choice to go to the party. Why couldn't other people see it like that?

She knew that everyone – Jenna, Jeremy, Matt, Caroline (who had been Elena's friend first, but was always closer with Allison) – thought that she was being too hard on Elena. That her constant dismissal of the other girl's feelings and refusal to be left alone in a room with her made Elena hurt. She and Elena used to be close – though never as close as Allison and Jeremy. Being so close in age made it easy for them to get along, and their mother always encouraged it, knowing how valuable it is to have a close relationship with a sister.

But Elena was the cause of so much pain, now. And Allison wouldn't let Elena hurt her like that again.

Whatever.

Anyway, it takes about a month and a half for everyone to forget Allison's parents died and for them to stop caring about how it completely fucked her up. At this point she and Jeremy have officially been labeled _irreparable,_ news of their decent into drug abuse becoming more relevant, along with appalling – and mostly inaccurate – news of their respective sexual escapades. The rumors – which were simply _rumors_ – were just short of amusing, falling somewhere between alarming and hurtful, as a matter of both subjects. The twins could've ignored what was being said, but Jenna and Elena were making that extremely difficult. Jenna made her concerns clear, but was still flailing in the parental role. On the other hand, despite Elena taking on the role of _sad girl_ , she hadn't lost the holier-than-thou attitude that made it impossible for her to support her siblings, instead choosing to scold and judge.

Not that anything Elena says holds any weight to Allison.

Jeremy has confessed to feeling guilty for dismissing their older sister as harshly as they have, but it's easy to drown the guilt in vodka shots. Ha, _drown_. Too soon?

Moving on.

It's officially been one-hundred seven days since the accident. It's also the first day of school, which means it's the first day of sophomore year for Jeremy and Allison. Which is also why Jenna is currently banging on Allison's bedroom door so forcefully it sounds like it might break.

"I'm up!" She yells, annoyed.

Rolling her eyes with a sigh, Allison flips the covers to one side of her bed, swinging her legs over the side. Checking the time and seeing she has about fifteen minutes to get out of the house if she wants to make it to school in time to light up with Vicki before she has to drag her ass to class, she pulls on a pair of ripped jeans, a black tank over her head, tucking her mom's locket inside her shirt, and finishing off her outfit with a long grey cardigan. Her long, brown hair was already pulled into braids – after showering the night before, Allison had figured it would be the easiest route to take assuming she slept in this morning.

She takes a moment to look at herself; her hair, which, if it were out of the braids, would fall in a slight curl to her waist. Her eyes, almond shaped and dark, dark brown. Her chest was covered in the high neckline of this shirt, but she knew she had nice boobs – large and round, a nice set of D's. Her waist was small, her stomach mostly flat. Not as thin as Elena, but Allison liked her body. She was tall, too, she had long legs. The drugs, alcohol, and late nights gave her dark circles under eyes, though, and made her ivory skin even paler.

After putting a light layer of makeup on – hiding the dark circles and using a light blush to make her cheeks look less white – she quickly headed downstairs, passing the alluring aroma of coffee to get to the front door.

Allison pulled on her converse, ignoring the light conversation going on in the kitchen – she knew Jeremy was in there and they had planned to go to school together, but she didn't want to risk Elena cornering her. Jeremy could meet her there. She threw her book-bag over her shoulder, grabbed her skateboard and took off out of the house, slamming the door as she left. She could her Jenna yell to her after the door closed, but she ignored her Aunt as she skated towards Mystic Falls High School.

* * *

Vicki Donovan is a predictable girl.

Daddy issues, mommy issues, a below average IQ, and a try-hard, golden boy, quarterback younger brother (who she could never live up to) lead to the source of her predictability – drugs. Allison didn't have to put much thought into where Vicki would be when she got to school, shoving her skateboard in her book-bag (well, the half of it that would fit) and making her way to the stoner pit. It was usually a short walk across the campus, but Allison had to take a couple detours to dodge sympathy hugs and pitying looks from people she hadn't seen in months. When she finally got to the back of the school, Vicki was already there, laughing and chatting with a couple of other people Allison recognized from parties she and Jeremy had accompanied Vicki to.

Allison couldn't stand them. At least Vicki's story was sad – the girl probably would've been a cheerleader in another life, and eventually a Stepford wife – had her parents not been the pieces of shit they were. The others were all there by choice, the goths and emos acting out because their parents cared too much.

Plastering a smirk across her face, Allison made her way over to the group, snatching the joint out of Vicki's hand before the older girl had a chance to take a puff, with a giggle.

"Hey!" Vicki grumbled, "That's rude."

"You'll get over it," Allison replied, rolling her eyes and taking a long drag. The only way she was getting through this day was high as a kite.

Shortly after, Jeremy arrived, stealing Vicki away with the tempting rattle of a bottle full of pills. Allison stayed with Vicki's friends, watching her brother talking to Vicki with that dumb puppy look on his face.

He had it bad.

Allison pitied him. Not for some ridiculous reason like that she didn't believe in love, or whatever. She wasn't an idiot, she knew that love was a real thing, didn't just know that from the billion songs written about it – her parents had been in love, after all. She just didn't think love was good for anyone – it only ended up hurting. Her parents died together, which was probably the best-case with regard to their marriage. In the long run, they probably would've ended up getting divorced, like most couples. Long-term relationships are doomed. You can't spend that much time with a person and never get tired of them. Somebody will fall out of love; start seeing a once adorable idiosyncrasy as annoying, adventurousness becomes recklessness, spontaneity becomes unreliability. Love is a tragedy as far as Allison is concerned.

Seeing Tyler Lockwood approaching the pair, Allison quickly hopped up from her spot on the stairs after handing what was left of the joint off. The Jeremy-Vicki-Tyler situation would always get out of hand if there wasn't someone present to diffuse it.

"Hey, Vick. I knew I'd find you here with the crackheads." Tyler said, throwing his arm around Vicki's waist and pulling her close to his side. Allison took her place at Jeremy's side as her brother's body stiffened up. Jeremy's problem with Tyler revolved around Vicki. His thing for Vicki wouldn't be a big deal if Vicki wasn't leading him on and Tyler wasn't throwing their relationship – for lack of a better term – in his face. Jeremy took a drag of the cigarette dangling between two of his fingers, only to have Tyler grab it from his hand and throw it on the ground, "Hey, Pete Wentz called. He wants his nail polish back."

Jeremy huffed, "Pete Wentz, huh?" smoke left his lips, "How old school T.R.L of you. Carson Daly fan?"

Tyler stepped forward a dangerous look on his face; Allison did the same to move between the older boy and her brother. Her movement distracted him – Allison cringed internally as Tyler's eyes ran over her body – long enough for Vicki to grab hold of his jacket and pull him back to his spot next to her.

"Be nice, Ty, be nice. That's Elena's little brother." She held onto the front of his jacket, pressing her body against his.

"I know who he is. I could still kick his ass." Getting the last word in, Tyler pulled Vicki in for a kiss. Allison saw the look on Jeremy's face, and grabbed his hand.

She scoffed, "I've heard that before," and pulled Jeremy by the hand towards the school, making sure her shoulder hit Tyler's hard enough to jostle the couple.

* * *

So – being hungover, skipping breakfast, and nearly finishing an entire joint on her own eventually caught of up to Allison. After walking into the school with Jeremy, she stopped suddenly, and took off into the nearest bathroom as her stomach starting flipping. Of course, in her haste she went into the boy's bathroom instead of the girls – there was only two people in the washroom, boys she recognized because they occasionally got their weed from Vicki. One of them was leaning against the counter, the other just washing his hands.

"Whoa, pants down chick." One of them said when they caught sight of her.

She ignored them as she hurried into a stall. Jeremy followed her, holding her hair back for her as she threw up.

When she was done, she went to the sink to wash her mouth out, barely taking notice that the boys had left. Her brother jumped up and sat on the counter.

"She keeps saying that "it isn't cool" for people to know we've hooked up." He said, looking down at his hands in his lap.

Allison spit out the water in her mouth, taking eye drops out of her bag and dropping a few drops in each eye. "I don't see why you care. If she'd rather be with the spoiled, temperamental, wanna-be alpha male that is Tyler Lockwood, then that's her prerogative."

Jeremy rolls his eyes at her, "I just don't get it. He treats her like shit, all he wants her for is her ass." He takes the eye drops from her, leaning his head back to repeat her movement.

Before Allison could reply, the door was thrown open and Elena stormed in. Just what Allison needed right now. Note the sarcasm.

Elena sighed, marching over, grabbing Jeremy face, and moving it from side to side. She looked at Allison, moving towards her but the other girl just raised an eyebrow, her expression cold. "Grab me like that and I will slap you."

Elena shook her head, "Great, it's the first day of school and you're stoned."

The twins rolled their eyes, "No, we're not."

Elena ignored their obvious lie, grabbing at Jeremy's sweater pockets, "Where is it? Is it on you?"

Her brother pushed her hands away, "Stop, alright, you need to chill yourself alright?" He backed a few steps, closer to his twin.

"Chill myself? What is that stoner talk? Dude, you are so cool," she mocked, stepping closer to keep poking at his clothes.

Allison reached over to slap her sister's hands away, "Look, stop. He doesn't have anything on him. Neither of us do, what're you crazy?"

"You two haven't seen crazy. I just heard two guys out there talking about the "great batch" they got from Jeremy. Look, you two got a summer pass, but I'm done watching you destroy yourselves. This isn't healthy."

Allison scoffed, "Right, Elena. We should spend all our time sitting in the grave yard, writing in our diaries about how miserable and sad we are – because _that's_ healthy." Elena's eye narrowed as Allison shoved past her sister, expecting her brother to follow.

Jeremy tried to follow Allison, only to be shoved back by Elena, "You know what, keep it up," Elena said, glancing back at Allison and then to Jeremy again, "but just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, ya got it?" Jeremy looked past her to Allison, who was shaking her head.

And then the three Gilbert's looked toward a stall as they heard the toilet flush, and a boy – who looked to be a freshman – awkwardly step out and make his way to the door.

Elena looked at her siblings, a sad look on her face. "Jeremy, Ali, I know who you are. It's not these people. So, don't be these people."

 _Saint Elena strikes again._

Allison sneered, Jeremy scowled. "We don't need this," Jeremy said, pushing past Elena and heading to his other sister, where the two walked out of the bathroom, Jeremy wrapping his arm around his twin's shoulder when they got into the hallway.

"She has no idea what she's talking about."

* * *

School passes by in a haze.

Allison spends most of her time doodling in her notebook and staring out the window. At one point, during history class, while Allison was watching the trees instead of listening to Tanner (because staring at the trees is about 90% more interesting that listening to Mystic Falls specific history), she sees a man. She can't really see him, can only see that he's tall, with dark hair, dressed in all black and hovering just along the treeline.

She thinks, anyway. Her high has mostly worn off, but its such an unusual idea that Allison thinks she might be hallucinating.

Other than that, the new student – Stefan Salvatore, a Junior, who apparently has Elena in his sights (Allison hears through the rumor mill) – is the only other interesting thing the day had to offer. Basically, it's been as boring as expected.

After school, Jeremy wanted to go to the Grill, and since Allison had skipped breakfast, she wouldn't say no. The place was fairly populated, but it didn't take long for them to get seated and order – two bacon cheeseburgers and a large fries to share, with two cokes – and it was around then that Allison realized why her brother suggested going out for supper. Vicki was there, waiting on tables.

Allison didn't really care that Jeremy was too busy watching Vicki to keep a conversation with his sister, because after a quick glance around the room, she spotted someone, and was suddenly consumed in her own thoughts.

Matt Donovan.

The story starts out like most affairs do – with alcohol.

It was a couple months ago, shortly after Allison's parents died, and after Elena broke up with Matt. It was the first night Jeremy and Vicki had hooked up, too, if Allison remembered correctly. Vicki had invited the twins to a party; one of the football guys that Vicki knew from school (one of the ones who was Vicki's age but had gone to college – instead of repeating their senior year like Vick) was throwing a party at their house, which was just barely smaller than the Lockwood mansion, while his parents were out of town.

Matt had gone too, having been dragged there by Tyler Lockwood. Matt was still hurting from the breakup and Tyler thought he needed to get drunk to get over Elena. Of course, Tyler found an older girl about an hour into the party to hook up with, so Matt was mostly on his own.

Meanwhile, Jeremy, Vicki, and Allison were drinking before they got to party, so they were all well and wasted an hour after they got to the party. Allison ditched them when Jeremy finally made a move and kissed Vicki, knowing what would likely follow. She decided she'd have another drink and then go home.

At the drink table, she found Matt.

He was sweet, as usual, and pretty drunk himself. And they were both sad, for different reasons, but it was nice because neither asked the other "how are you doing," or said, "sorry for what happened." That made it easier to forget for a little while; why they were sad, that they were sad, and just be dumb drunk teenagers.

Later that night, one of the sober girlfriends of a football player drove Matt and Allison to Matt's house, because it was closer, and the two had decided that Allison would just call Jenna to get her from there. That never actually happened. Allison isn't quite sure when the atmosphere changed, but it was abrupt and sobering. She knows Matt initiated it, leaning in to kiss her, wonders if on some level he did it to get back at Elena. On another level, she doesn't care, because she wonders if that's the same reason she kissed him back. She remembers everything that happened that night – every kiss, every touch, every breath. That was the night she lost her virginity to Matt Donovan.

Allison knows – everyone knows – that Matt is still hung up on Elena. If she could bring herself to care more than a smidge, she'd probably worry that in his drunken haze, Matt was thinking about Elena while they were together. She doesn't care though, it doesn't matter to her – she doesn't have feelings for Matt. And maybe if she hadn't been as drunk as she was, her respect for herself would've won out over hormones. Regardless, it happened, and after they woke up together in the morning, she didn't give either of them time to think, to register what happened, what the consequences might be, it was her turn to initiate it. Allison thinks Matt might have been thinking about Elena when he took her virginity. But she _knows_ the next time they had sex, the only person on his mind was her. And she was the one on his mind the time after that. And the time after that, and the time after that.

And as horrible as it sounds, a small part of Allison revelled in the idea of Elena finding out what Matt had been getting up to between football practice, worrying about Vicki, and pining after her. Maybe Elena wasn't in love with Matt, but the thought of her ex-boyfriend fucking her sister would hurt, would drive her crazy.

But Elena hasn't found out. And Allison won't be the one to tell her.

 _Not yet, anyway._

Allison left the Grill shortly after Elena walks in with the new guy, Stefan. It's painfully awkward to watch Matt walk over to the pair and introduce himself like the _nice guy_ everyone knows he is. Plus, Jeremy left a little while before, after Vicki told him off about her relationship with Tyler.

When she got home, Jenna was there, watching reruns of _Friends_ with a tub of cookie-dough ice cream in her lap. Her Aunt acknowledged her when she came home, but didn't say much more so Allison figured it would be safe to sit with her for a while. So, she ran upstairs and changed into her pjs, before going back downstairs and curling up next to Jenna.

If you asked, she'd say it was because she could never resist _Friends_ – especially the first few episodes of season seven – and her favorite ice cream. Maybe it's because she missed spending time with her Aunt.

Either way, Jenna counts it as a win.

The rest of the evening and next day pass similarly as the first, boring, predicable, never-ending.

* * *

There's a party at the falls tonight.

Jeremy wants to go, and apparently even Elena told Bonnie she would go, so Allison figures it'd be pretty pathetic to stay home while Saint Elena goes out to get drunk.

She doesn't dress up too much. They'll be in the woods and it's not like she has anyone to impress, so there doesn't seem to be much of a reason. She doesn't plan on staying too long anyway, just making an appearance and walking home.

She and Jeremy arrived at the party together – Allison is wearing skinny jeans and a loose white tank that has "darlin'" written in red across the front of it, her mother's locket – as usual – is tucked under her shirt, and she has black high-top converse on. Jeremy decided to mix it up tonight, wearing a grey hoodie, instead of a black one, with black jeans, black sneakers, and a black t-shirt.

Her brother really is stylish.

Anyway, they separate after they each finish their third beer, Jeremy – probably – going to find Vicki, and Allison wandering around for something to do.

She's staring at the fire when she notices him, standing on the other side of it, watching her.

Allison won't react outwardly, though her heart starts to beat faster when she realizes that it's the same man she saw outside the school. She knows she isn't hallucinating this time, she hasn't touched a joint all day, or any other drugs.

He's much more attractive than she noticed the first time. Tall, black jeans, black leather jacket, black hair – but it's his eyes. His eyes are so bright, so blue that she can see how gorgeous they are from across the fire.

Her trance is broken at the sound of Matt's voice from behind her.

"Looking for someone?"

Thinking he might be talking to her, she turns, only to see that it's Elena he's talking to. They aren't as close as Allison had thought they were, and haven't noticed her.

"Hey," Elena says softly.

"When you broke up with me, you said was because you needed some time alone. You don't look so alone to me."

"Matt, you don't understand. It's-"

Matt cuts off whatever Elena was about to say, "It's okay, Elena. You do what you have to do. I just wanna let you know that I still believe in us, and I'm not giving up on that."

Allison's blood runs cold.

Let's get something straight here: Allison has no romantic feelings towards Matt. No use for him, aside from when he's there to scratch an itch. But there's _something_ about hearing the guy you occasionally have sex with confess his apparently not-going-away love for your sister. She would describe the feeling as a similar one to what she felt as child, when Elena would take her favorite teddy. She knows he used to be Elena's, but he's not anymore. She's got some sort of claim, right? It's not fair that Elena gets any part of him.

She feels something in her chest. A dull ache.

She wants to squash it. That feeling, make it go away, kill it.

She's quiet, and still as she watches Matt walk away from Elena, watches Elena take a half step forward and say his name.

She's on her sixth beer when Matt approaches her, that easy going, good-boy smile on his face. How good is boy who screws around with the sister of the girl he claims to love? Where do his loyalties lie?

Allison is feeling a little drunk, a little angry, a little annoyed because of the way hearing Matt talk to Elena made her feel – of course, after Matt had his words with Elena, she had gone straight back to flirting with Stefan.

"Hey, how's it going?" He asks, that soft tone, the smile still plastered across his stupid handsome face.

Allison huffed, "I'm not in the mood right now, Matt."

A frown came across his face and he steps in front of her as she tries to walk away, "What's wrong, Ali?"

She rolled her eyes, "Look, when I'm ready for another go at Elena's sloppy seconds, I'll come find you, okay? But I'm not in the mood right now, so get out of my way."

A confused, hurt look crosses his face, and he steps aside without a word. Her chest doesn't feel any lighter. The feeling hasn't gone away.

This is when the screaming starts.

"Somebody help!" It's Elena's voice, and she sounds desperate and scared, very scared, so Allison's head turns to her – almost in sync with every other person in hearing range. Elena is running out, Jeremy a few steps behind her, carrying a body.

Allison takes off towards her brother, all thoughts of Matt leaving her head.

Until she gets close enough, and sees that the body is Vicki Donovan.

* * *

The ambulance has come and left, but there are still cop cars scattered around.

Matt left in the ambulance with Vicki. She was still alive, though she didn't look it when Allison first caught sight of her when Jeremy laid her down on a picnic table. She'd been bitten, by some sort of animal, apparently.

Allison wasn't sure what kind of animal bit once, and left two perfectly round holes a persons' neck.

Point is, Vicki was still alive, and though she had lost a lot of blood, the paramedics had been optimistic that she'd be fine after a few blood transfusions.

Now, Allison is sitting on one of the picnic table with her legs dangling off the end, Jeremy's sweater wrapped around her shoulders. Jeremy stands next to her, quietly nursing the rest of his beer, as Elena calls Jenna to come pick them up.

Their older sister walks over, eyeing Jeremy closely. "You okay?" She asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He shrugs it off, not making eye contact. Allison thinks she heard him sniffle. He's obviously upset about Vicki's attack.

"I called Jenna. She's on her way," Elena utters. Neither of them reply.

Jeremy starts to lift his beer to his lips again, stopping when Elena starts talking again.

"You know those people in uniforms? Last time I checked they're the police."

Allison rolls her eyes, shaking her head at her sister's words, at the little smile on her face. Will she ever figure out that doing that, trying to tell Jeremy, or her, not to do something, whether it be a demand or suggestion, in her serious voice or I'm-saying-this-like-a-joke-but-I'm-ready-to-scold-you voice – how ever she goes about it, all it does it make them want to do it more?

Jeremy chugs the rest of the beer, turning slightly to throw the empty bottle behind them.

Elena purses her lips. "People are going to stop giving you breaks, Jere. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they have their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too."

"I've seen you in the cemetery, writing in your diary. Is that- is that supposed to be you moving on?"

Elena shakes her head, eyebrows pulled together, "Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted this."

Allison hops off the picnic table, once again rolling her eyes at her sister and walking away from her siblings. "It doesn't matter what they want anymore, Elena. They're dead."

* * *

When 3am hit, Allison was done staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. She pulled on a sweater and sweat pants, slid a note under Jenna's door explaining where she was going, and crept out of the house, keys to Elena's car in hand.

It took her ten minutes to arrive at her destination, two minutes to strengthen her resolve, and three minutes for her to go inside the building and find the room she was looking for.

When she got to Vicki's room, it was quiet, aside from the low hum of the television. Matt was sitting in the chair beside Vicki's bed, passed out. Allison stopped, went back into the hall to talk to the nurse for a second.

When she went back into the room, she was followed by a young nurse pushing a cot, that he put next to Vicki's bed. She placed her hand on Matt's shoulder, shaking him gently.

He startled awake, looking surprised to see her. She gave him a look, tilting her head toward the cot.

"What," he whispered, confused.

"Get on the bed, dumbass. Your football career will suffer if you spend the night sleeping in this chair." She whispered back, trying not to wake Vicki.

Matt did as she said, still half-asleep. It didn't take long for him to pass out again. Allison nodded her head, happy with herself. She turned and started towards the door, but stopped, and looked back at the two. It was sad, the pair they made. Their father was a dead-beat they didn't know, their mom no better. It was unlikely that Kelly Donovan would even come back into Mystic Falls when she found out that Vicki was alive and Matt was dealing with the situation fairly well by himself.

Allison sighed, walking back in the room, and sitting on the chair that Matt had vacated. She fell asleep easily.

And the feeling in her chest finally went away.

* * *

 **Alright!**

 **So, that's chapter one. I hope you all like it, please review, favorite, follow, all that fun stuff. I really hope you guys like Allison, and understand the type of person she is. I know she seems to be all over the place right now, but she's still hardcore grieving. She won't change too much over the course of the story, but maybe a little bit as we get into the vampires and death and all that.**

 **Also, if anyone is feeling up to it, let me know who you guys picture as a face claim for Allison!**

 **Thanks xoxo**


	3. Chapter Two

**Author's Note: First of all, I just wanna get the obvious disclaimer out of the way - I do not own, nor am I affiliated with The Vampire Diaries in way, shape or form. It would've all gone down very differently after season one if I had anything to say about it. Also, I just wanna let everyone know that there will be some mild Elena bashing for a little bit. And! There may be a character or two that you might consider to be OOC but this is just my take on the characters and how they may act with an entirely new character in the mix.**

 **I also want to thank everyone who favorited and followed the story! Also, thanks to LilacUnderground, Only reviewer, Serendipity. now, DaphneSlytherinWinchester and Savily for their reviews!**

 **P. S. What do you guys think of Hailee Steinfeld as Allison?**

* * *

 _Ow._

Allison's first thought upon waking up. Her neck had ended up in an awkward position, her head somewhat pillowed on her shoulder. Her neck gave a gross _crack_ when she lifted it to glance around the room. Matt and Vicki were both still sleeping, but given the slightly altered position of their bodies, Allison figured they had both woken at some point during the night.

Glancing at the clock hung on the wall, Allison saw that it was around 6:30am. She figured if she moved now, she'd have time to get home before her household woke up. Standing up slowly, she quietly snuck out of the room, glancing back only to make sure the Donovan siblings were still asleep. Seeing that she hadn't woken them, she turned her heel and headed home.

When she got home, it was around twenty to seven, leaving her just enough time to put Elena's keys back where her sister left them and sneak into Jenna's room to steal the note she had left before her Aunt had the chance to see it. Nobody needed to know she snuck out of the house that night.

She hopped in the shower as alarms started going off around the house. No one would think it was weird for her to be up so early, Allison has always had weird sleep patterns – which worsened after her parent's death.

She got out of the shower, traipsing over to dresser to pick out an outfit. Allison dropped her towel, shivering as she felt a slight breeze. She pulled on a bra and panties, turning, with the intention of shutting the window.

She startled as she realized there was a crow sitting on her window sill. It was weird, it almost looked like the bird was watching her.

"That's not super creepy or anything." She muttered, walking over to slam her window shut.

She could hear the bird cawing at her, but did her best to ignore it as she headed back to her dresser to grab a pair of black jeans. Unsure of what the rest of her outfit would be, she went to her vanity to throw on some makeup. After that, Allison decided to pair the jeans with a white crop-top, and grabbed a denim jacket from her closet. As usual, she ensured her mother's locket was tucked under her shirt before she left her bedroom.

Jenna and Elena were chatting in the hall. There was no way to avoid them this morning.

Perfect.

"Um, there's Allison, but where is Jeremy?" Elena asked, glancing into her brother's empty room.

"He left early," Jenna replied, "something about getting to woodshop early to finish a birdhouse." Seeing in the mirror Elena's face full of confusion, and Allison's smirk, Jenna gave a sarcastic smile. "There is no woodshop, is there?"

"No," Elena answered, shaking her head.

"Yeah…" Jenna trailed off, sighing. Allison stayed quiet, thinking Jeremy must have left shortly after she got home. No doubt, he was going to see Vicki.

"Well, I'm off," Elena said, lightly touching Allison's shoulder as she passed by. "Do you need a drive, Ali?"

Allison shook her head no. Elena sighed, but nodded, "Okay. Good luck today, Jenna!"

After her sister left, Jenna gave her a _look_. The same look she'd been getting since everyone realized the only reason she'd talk to Elena was to insult her. It's the _why can't you be a better person?_ look.

"Why do you need luck today?" Allison asked, ignoring the look, the indication that Jenna wanted to talk about her rocky relationship with her sister.

Jenna sighed – what the fuck is it with people sighing at her lately? – "Your and Jeremy's parent-teacher conference is today. Anything I should be prepared for?"

Allison shook her head, again. She had always been a grade A student, and though her marks had slipped somewhat over the last year, she was still getting by better than most people in her grade.

"Good. By the way, what are your plans for after school tomorrow?"

"Um, no idea. Why?" Allison figured that she and Jeremy would go watch the comet, get high behind the school.

"Because I know Elena is helping Bonnie hand out pamphlets for the event in town, and I was wondering if you would help them." By now, Jenna had turned to look at her niece, done with fixing her hair. Allison figured it was also so that she would get the full impact of Jenna's puppy-dog eyes and her _pretty please_ face.

"Actually, I have a huge test I need to study for." Allison lied, turning to rush downstairs without waiting to hear her Aunt's reply.

* * *

She got to class on time, which was both a good and bad thing.

Good, because she wouldn't have to listen to her Maths teacher shit on her for being late again. Bad, because she'd be there for the entire lesson. It was hard enough to sit through half of one. Fortunately, her first few classes pass fairly quickly.

By the time lunch rolls around, though, she's had enough of school for today. She had been watching out for Matt during their class changes, mostly with the intention of avoiding him so she wouldn't have to explain her actions the night before. When she didn't see him, she figured he must have stayed at the hospital with Vicki.

She was proven wrong, however, when, getting ready to leave campus, she saw Matt walking with Elena. Allison rolled her eyes, but turned around to walk in the other direction. She didn't want Elena to see her leaving.

With Matt at school, Allison figured she would go visit Vicki.

Her relationship with Vicki was hard to explain. She didn't dislike the girl, but it was hard to be friends with someone who was manipulating her brother. However, it was through Vicki that she got her weed, and the older girl always knew someone willing to buy liquor for minors. But, the older girl was so similar to her mother, Kelly, that Allison knew Vicki would be more trouble than she was worth in the long run. For now, though, if she and Jeremy were doing good, then Allison considered there to more positives to having Vicki around than negatives.

So, _for now_ , she hoped that Vicki was recovering well.

She's at the hospital now, has been there for about fifteen minutes when she has the urge to use the bathroom.

"I'll be right back, Vick." She says, getting up and heading to the washroom attached to Vicki's room.

Allison hears the outer door to Vicki's room open and close as she's drying her hands, hears Vicki say, "Um, hi?" and thinks that it might be Matt or a nurse, until the person starts to speak.

"What attacked you last night?"

Allison doesn't recognize the voice. Her brow furrows, and she strains to hear if anything else is said.

"A vampire."

Allison's eyebrows raise when Vicki responds. What the fuck?

"No," she hears, "it was an animal that attacked you. It came out of the night and it jumped you, and then you blacked out. That's all you remember."

"It was animal." Vicki repeats, her voice monotone.

"An animal attacked you last night, and you blacked out. That's all you remember."

"It was an animal. That's all I remember."

* * *

Okay.

What the fuck?

Allison didn't know how to feel at the moment. She waited in the washroom for a few minutes after the voices went quiet in Vicki's room before she opened the door. When she did come out of the washroom, the room was empty aside from Vicki, who had fallen asleep. The only proof Allison had that she didn't imagine the exchange she overheard was that Vicki's door was left wide open – and she was certain she closed it when she arrived at the hospital. She turned to Vicki again, who was still sleeping.

Seriously, what the fuck?

Who was that? It wasn't a voice Allison recognized, and she knew she would be able to recognize the voice of anyone who cared enough to visit Vicki – mainly because that category was limited to Jeremy, Matt, and _maybe_ Tyler. The voice she heard didn't belong to any of those people.

Lost in her thoughts, Allison didn't notice the faint sound of foot steps approaching until a hand rested on her shoulder. She spun around, arms coming up to defend herself.

"Whoa," Matt said, stepping back with his hands up, "Didn't mean to scare you."

Allison held a hand over her heart, "Fuck, Matty."

The pair glanced at Vicki, who had shifted in her sleep. They stepped outside of the room to avoid waking her.

Matt laughed, "Sorry."

"It's fine," she sighed, "I wasn't paying attention."

"Clearly," he smiled at her, but it dropped quickly. "Hey, before I forget, was Stefan Salvatore in here?"

Her brow furrowed, "Uh, I didn't see him. Why?"

Was Stefan the one she heard? She'd seen him around a few times, at the Grill and school, but she'd never actually spoken to him.

"It's nothing, I guess. I just saw him earlier, and it looked like he was leaving Vicki's room. So, I followed him, to ask why he was here but he just disappeared around a corner and I completely lost him."

"Maybe he was just visiting," Allison suggested, not really believing it, not really knowing what to believe about Stefan Salvatore.

"Ah, I don't know. I might be overreacting, this whole thing with Vicki has me beyond stressed, but that guy, there's just–"

"Something weird about him," Allison finished for him, meeting his eyes.

"Yeah,"

* * *

Vicki is missing.

Allison has no idea what happened, just knows that Vicki was released in the afternoon, and that the older girl had immediately had to go to the Grill to sort things out with her boss. When Allison finally got to the Grill herself, she ran into Jeremy, and they had chatted for a bit before her brother started looking around the room, and realized Vicki was nowhere to be found. After checking the washrooms, and taking a look outside, still unable to find Vicki, Jeremy started to worry. He admitted that he was worried because he had given her a couple of Elena's left-over pills from the car crash when Vicki said the doctors wouldn't give her strong enough pain meds. Maybe she'd had a bad reaction, or had taken too many.

Allison followed behind her brother as they made their way over to the table Matt, Caroline, Elena, Bonnie, and Tyler stood around.

"Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Her brother asked, near frantic.

"You're her stalker, you tell us," Tyler quipped.

"I can't find her,"

"She probably found somebody else to party with." Tyler smirked, "Sorry pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."

Elena pipped up, "What's with the _pill pusher_?"

"Ask him," Tyler nodded towards Jeremy, that stupid smirk still on his face. Allison wanted to punch it off.

"You wanna do this right now?" Allison asked, eyebrow raised.

"Are you dealing?" Elena asked, looking between Jeremy and Allison, as if she expected an answer.

"She's never gonna go for you." Tyler said, changing the subject back to Vicki.

Allison glanced at her twin, wondering what he would say. They both knew Vicki wasn't keen on the idea of people knowing they hooked up, but there was only so much taunting Jeremy would take. Frankly, Allison figured that once it got out Vicki and Jeremy were hooking up, the older girl would eventually give her brother a chance, he would see that he really only wanted her because of the taboo and when everyone else was over it, Jeremy would be too. Allison couldn't wait for that day – Jeremy didn't deserve to be kept a secret, and Allison was beyond done with dealing with his pining.

He narrowed his eyes, "She already did," Allison smirked, _finally,_ she thought, "Over and over and over again."

"Yeah, right," Tyler scoffed.

Allison could have laughed at the sight in front her. Matt, tilting his head up towards the ceiling with an eye roll, Elena's wide eyes turning to her little brother, Caroline's jaw dropping.

"You slept with _Vicki Donovan_?" Caroline asked, disbelieving, "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with _you_?"

"There's no way." Tyler replied.

"And I didn't even have to force her into it." Jeremy interjected, looking at Tyler.

Matt's head swiveled toward his best friend, eyes narrowed, "What the hell is he talking about, Ty?"

Allison was wondering the same thing. She would've expected Jeremy to tell her if he saw or heard of anything that resembled Tyler hurting Vicki.

"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk."

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?"

"We'll check the square," Bonnie muttered, leaving with Tyler.

"I'll go check around, see if anyone's seen her," Matt said, glancing around.

"I'll go with you," Jeremy tried, but Elena grabbed his arm, "No, no, no, you're coming with me,"

"We'll check the back," Caroline said, grabbing onto Allison's arm and pulling. The younger girl wanted to resist but she also knew that given the choice, she'd rather deal with Caroline than listen to another one of Elena's rants.

* * *

Caroline was quiet as they walked, seemingly collecting her thoughts. Allison was ringing her hands together, waiting for the blow up.

"So…" the blonde started, taking a deep breath, stopped moving, and grabbed Allison's arm to turn the girl to face her. "I get that this summer was hard on you. I know I could never understand the way you felt, or whatever you're feeling right now, but you're my best friend, Allison. You've always been my best friend, and if you need to keep up the wanna-be-punk stoner act until you feel better, that's fine, but you need to stop shutting me out. If not for your sake, then for mine, because I am losing my mind without you." The words came out in a rush, typical for Caroline when she was talking about something she was uncomfortable with. It was comforting, in a way, for Allison to know that Caroline was as uneasy with the subject as she was. Her words were comforting as well – Allison hadn't known what to expect when Caroline dragged her away, but she had been anticipating the worst. Thinking that Caroline was maybe tired of waiting for her to go back to how she used to be, not sure she could break it to her that she didn't know how to be that person anymore. She felt silly now – of course Caroline didn't care what she wore or how she was acting. She just missed her.

They had been friends since they were little, despite the blonde meeting and becoming friends with Elena first. They had clicked in the same way Elena and Bonnie had, had been inseparable for years. Sure, they'd had their moments over the years, small fights or big blow ups, but they'd always managed to get past it.

The death of Allison's parents had changed her, she knew. Not by a lot, but there was a part of her that felt hollow, and because of that, she chose to focus on her anger. _She was always angry, now_.

At the beginning of the summer, Caroline had been almost as upset as she was, knowing how much pain her friend was in. So, when Allison had asked for some space, needing to breathe, Caroline had figured her friend would take some time to cope with what had happened, a few days, a week at most and then call her to come back. But she never called. And the days started adding up and now the past summer held the record for the number of days they had gone without talking or seeing each other.

There were times Caroline felt guilty, thinking maybe she should've reached out to Allison sooner, because maybe Allison was too stubborn for her own good, wouldn't admit to needing her around. Other times, Caroline thought that maybe Allison didn't need her, not like Caroline needed Allison.

But most of the time, Caroline knew her friend, knew that Allison didn't call because she was too busy trying to avoid facing her feelings about her parents' death, didn't call because she knew that Caroline would've convinced her to talk about her feelings and try to move past them.

Looking at Caroline, at the pleading look on her face, Allison felt guilty. She knew Caroline was fragile, insecure, as dependent on her as Jeremy was. And she had been neglecting her, hurting her.

"Okay." Allison gave her a small, blink and you'd miss it smile, before turning to walk away, "For your sake, anyway."

Caroline and Allison had done a quick sweep of the area behind the Grill, finding nothing. When we got back out to the front and found the others, Vicki was already with the group, Matt helping her reapply the bandage to her wound. Matt explained that Stefan had apparently found Vicki wandering around, high, with her stitches ripped. Unable to catch sight of either of her siblings, Allison figured it would be safe to sit and chat with Caroline for a little bit, just catching up on what she had been up to over the summer.

They were there for about a half hour when Allison caught sight of Jeremy across the room. He had a slight smile on his face, but it only lasted a second before it dropped and was replaced with a sad frown. Following his line of sight, she saw Vicki and Tyler kissing. _For fuck sake_ , Allison thought, shaking her head slightly.

Seeing Bonnie approaching their table, Allison excused herself from Caroline, the other girl promising to text her later in the night. Heading over to her brother, Allison gave him a sad smile, taking his hand, and pulling him towards the exit.

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ you two."

Allison cringed. Jeremy continued to stare at the floor.

"Seriously? _Drugs_? Seriously? God, I just," Jenna shoved her fingers through her hair, "I cannot believe you two!"

Upon arriving at home, Allison and Jeremy were met with the sight of Jenna sitting on the couch with a glass of wine, a pile of their stuff laid out on the table in front of her – 2 bongs, a few stash jars, etc. Before they could act on the instinct to turn around and walk away, Jenna spoke, "If either of you make a move to leave this room, I swear to God I will call the Sheriff."

So, here they were, sat next to each other on the couch that Jenna had vacated, instead choosing to pace in front of them.

"I asked you point blank yesterday, Allison, if there was anything I needed to know before I went to that conference with Tanner. You lied straight to my face. And then I had to listen to that asshat tell me that you and Jeremy had missed a total of 15 classes _each_ in the first week of school." Jenna stopped walking, turning to point a finger at them, "That stops now, by the way. You're both officially grounded, so the only time you're going to have away from this house is when you're at school."

Jenna kept ranting for another hour, at least, before sending the twins upstairs.

Jeremy followed Allison into her room when they got upstairs.

"Fun night, hmm?"

Her brother rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I'm not sure which part was my favorite: Vicki going missing, Elena's threat to send us away – and yeah, she included you in that, by the way, Vicki going back to Tyler again, or Jenna routing through our rooms and stealing all our stuff."

Allison turned her stereo on before laying back on her bed, leaving room for Jeremy beside her. She smirked at him, reached up behind her headboard, grabbing a baggy Jenna had missed in her search. She held it in front of Jeremy and shook it – there were at least four already rolled joints inside.

"Nice," he said, trying to grab at it.

"Hands off, they're mine. And for emergencies only now that they're all we have." Allison put it back up into her hiding spot, sighing as she rolled to face her brother, "What happened with Vicki?"

He shook his head, "I went to see her when she was in the hospital, told her I was the one who found her in the woods and- and she knows Tyler didn't even visit her, didn't ask how she was doing even once. And she was pissed yesterday, and earlier today, and then tonight she's just over it, she just goes right back to him. I just don't understand."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Jere."

"I don't either," he admitted.

"I don't know what you're feeling,"

He scoffed, "Really? So, it doesn't bother you when Matt wants you to come over in the middle of the night and the next day he's back to following Elena around, professing his love for her?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"I'm not in love with Matt, for one, so I don't really care what he's _saying_ to Elena as long as he isn't sleeping with her."

"Whatever," Jeremy replied, rolling off the bed, "I'm going to bed."

Jeremy semi-stormed out of the room, lightly slamming the door. Allison rolled her eyes at her ceiling. Jeremy must be seriously upset if he's snapping at his twin, slamming her door passive-aggressively. He knows how much she hates that – it's such an Elena thing to do.

Allison glances at her phone, not seeing the text she expected from Caroline. There's a sick feeling in her stomach.

Ignoring the feeling, Allison stands to get herself ready for bed, taking her makeup off, and stripping out of her clothes and bra. She pulls on an old, too big t-shirt. Today was shit, she thinks, but at least her and Caroline patched things up.

She shoots a text to Caroline, telling the girl that she'd meet her tomorrow afternoon for lunch, before turning her phone to silent and closing her eyes.

For once, it was easy for Allison to fall asleep – unfortunately, she spent the night wishing she would wake up, as nightmare after nightmare haunted her dreams.

* * *

 **Finally, chapter two is up!**

 **I am so sorry that it's a shorter chapter, and that it took so long to get it uploaded, I really wanted to do this on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, I've got a larger work load this semester, so that might not be possible all the time. I will try my hardest though! I also just wanted to let you all know that I might start skipping some episodes - only if it's totally necessary, but if I do this episode by episode the chapters might end up extremely short, if I can't see where I can fit Allison in. For those, I'll either skip the episode, or put her where I can and cover a couple episodes in one chapter.**

 **Anyway, don't forget to favorite and follow and review and all that fun stuff!**

 **Thanks xoxo**


	4. Chapter Three

**Author's Note: First of all, I just wanna get the obvious disclaimer out of the way: I do not own, nor am I affiliated with The Vampire Diaries in any way, shape, or form. It would've all gone down differently after season one if I had anything to say about it. I also want to thank the guest, and Serendipity. now for their reviews, and every one who followed or favorited!**

 **Please note! There is a bit of a mature scene that takes place shortly after the dream. The three XXX's will be the indication that it's coming up. It's shortly after the texting bit. Should I bump up the rating on the story? Or accept that I'll never be a good smut writer and leave it to your imaginations? Let me know!**

* * *

 _There's a girl – blonde hair, blue eyes – walking through a parking lot that Allison doesn't recognize. No, wait, there's a sign – it's the parking lot at the Grill. Allison watches as she walks confidently through the night, purse over one shoulder. She's happy._

 _She gets to her car, but fumbles as she tries to get her keys out of her purse. They fall to the ground._

 _With a sigh, she leans down to pick them up – only to startle as she stands again, catching sight of the man suddenly standing next to her. Gasping, she puts a hand on her chest._

 _Then she lets out a laugh, feeling silly for being afraid. It's_ _ **that**_ _ **guy**_ _. Blondie recognizes him. She thinks she's safe._

 _Allison isn't close enough to hear them as they chat, but she watches as they walk across the parking lot together, to a different car._

 _Allison blinks, and then cringes, because when she opens her eyes, they're in someone's bedroom. The couple are on the bed, kissing fervently. She immediately wants to looks away, but can't._

 _They start removing their clothing, and Allison_ _ **really**_ _wants to look away, but it's like she's frozen; she's no longer in total control of her body._

 _As mystery man – who Allison can clearly see now is the super hot creeper guy with the killer blue eyes that she saw outside the school and at the bonfire – kisses his way from the blonde's neck to her belly button, Blondie moans, tilting her head back. Allison's eyes widen, because as the moonlight shines through the bedroom window, it illuminates the girls features, and Allison can see now that it's Caroline._

 _Before that realization can fully hit her, Hot Creepy Guy skims his lips across Caroline's torso, up to her neck again. He tilts his head back, face changing – eyes darkening, veins lifting across his face, fangs descending from his gums. Caroline lets out a bloodcurdling scream, Hot Creepy Guy lunges toward her neck and tears into her throat, and as Allison tries to step forward, to stop him and-_

 _She wakes up._

XXX

So, nightmares. That's new.

From a young age, Allison was a bit of an insomniac, and of course that only worsened after the loss of her parents. Usually, she didn't sleep enough to dream – so why the _fuck_ was she having nightmares now? And why were they coming across as creepy semi-erotic soft-core horror porn featuring her best friend?

Grabbing her phone, Allison winces at the bright light it emits when she turns it on – the time reads as 2:30am – she's only been asleep for a couple of hours. Refusing to let the weirdest, albeit the most vivid and realistic, dream she's ever had effect her, Allison doesn't let herself worry when she notices that Caroline never messaged her back.

Rolling her eyes at herself and knowing she won't be getting much more sleep this evening, Allison opens her messages.

 _Sent 2:33 am_

 _Hey, are you awake?_

Dropping her phone on her bed, Allison pulls on a tank top, forgoing a bra, and a pair of jeans.

 _Received 2:35 am_

 _Yeah, what's up?_

Allison brushes her hands through her hair, thankful that the natural waves make her hair look tousled.

 _Sent 2:37 am_

 _Want company?_

 _Received 2:37 am_

 _definitely_

She puts a little spot of concealer under her eyes, but otherwise doesn't bother with makeup. Her cheeks are still flushed from her nap, and her eyelashes stand out in a way that they wouldn't had she applied a full face of foundation. She makes her way downstairs, sliding on her converse and a sweater.

 _Sent 2:39 am_

 _On the way._

She decides to walk, deciding that she definitely won't be coming back home tonight, and not wanting to listen to the lecture she'd be guaranteed should she take Elena or Jenna's car without permission, especially in the middle of the night. The walk is short anyway, only about 10 minutes between their houses.

She doesn't knock when she arrives, just opens the door she knows has been unlocked for her, and makes her way through the small home to the last bedroom in the hallway. The door is closed, but she doesn't bother to knock there either, before she enters the room. She locks the door behind her.

Matt is laying in his bed, watching one of those late-night reruns of _Whose Line Is It, Anyway?_ on the comedy channel. He starts to get up when he catches sight of her, but she waves him off, toeing off her shoes by the door and dropping her sweater on the floor.

"Hey," he says, but stays in bed as she directs, instead sitting up against the headboard. He's shirtless, clad in a pair of sweatpants and, her educated guess would be boxer briefs underneath. His hair is a little messier than it had been during the day, and Allison can't help but think how cute he looks.

There isn't much hesitation between them when it comes to sex anymore – they have enough experience with each other, they know each other's bodies, what they like and don't like. He prefers her to be the one to initiate the physical contact – he's never explained why, but she has her theories, figuring it might have to do with the nonverbal consent. So, he watches as she walks over to him, stopping only to unzip and remove her jeans, before she climbs onto his bed, dropping herself in his lap. His eyes are dark with lust, and she can feel how turned on he is, the anticipation of what's to come affecting him physically.

He leans up to kiss her – fuck, he's a good kisser – as her hands work their way into his pants. He's about halfway ready for her, so a few jerks of her wrist have him standing at full attention. He stops kissing her to pull her tank off, but before he has a chance to admire her breasts – and thank God that she went bra-less – she's out of his grasp, shuffling backwards down his bed with the waistband of his pants in hand, and a wicked smirk on her face.

Matt lets out a low groan, his head hitting the headboard, when she wraps her lips around him. Her head dips lower, taking more of him in her mouth. When one of his hands releases its grip on the bedsheet to tangle in her hair, she moans around his cock, dipping one of her hands into her panties to rub at her clit. She blows him for another few minutes, before kissing her way up his chest, biting and sucking at his neck.

She's beyond ready for him, her panties soaking wet from her arousal. He practically tears them off her, almost tipping her off the bed when her legs get tangled in the fabric. They share a short laugh, righting themselves, as she rips open one of the condoms on his nightstand, rolling it over him. She straddles his lap again and slowly, inch by inch, lets his cock slip through her folds. He feels huge inside her, average length but wide as hell, stretching her in a such a satisfying way.

"Fuck," she muttered, rocking her hips, grinding their bodies together, before going to her knees to start bouncing on his cock.

He palms her breasts, claiming her lips in a sloppy kiss as he thrust his hips up in time with hers. His hands make their way to her waist, gripping tightly and in a quick – and impressive, she'll admit – movement, he has her on her back, using the momentum the position gives him to fuck into her harder. As her legs wrap around his waist, heels digging into his ass, his hand slips between their bodies, fingers toying and rubbing on her clit. He sucks a hickey onto her neck – payback for the ones he knows she left on his body – before dropping his lips lower and taking her left nipple into his mouth. He switches his mouth to her other nipple after a moment, biting and flicking with his tongue.

They're both panting, biting back moans, the knowledge that Vicki is in the next room keeping them quiet. His head his tucked into her neck, breathing loud next to her ear; his fingers quicken in their movements, pressing harder onto her clit, until she's biting into his shoulder to keep from screaming as she orgasms. He thrusts into her a few more times, the bed squeaking underneath his movements, the sound of their skin slapping together filling the room – he's getting rougher, chasing his release, and Allison dares to think how much she loves that their sex is so much hotter than what he had with Elena, which was only ever _love-making_ , as her sister liked to say. Eventually, the way she keeps squirming from over-sensitivity and squeezing her walls around his cock is too much and he fills the condom with his cum.

He drops his weight on top of her, still buried inside of her; his body is heavy on hers, and she feels full, but she's not complaining. She feels content, now.

He rolls off her after a moment, pulling the condom off and throwing it away, sending that boyishly handsome smile of his, her way. It's ridiculous that he could still be described as _cute_ or _adorable_ after fucking her like that. She can't help but smile back, having thankfully forgotten about her nightmare, enjoying the comfortable ache in her bones and finally feeling a tiredness set in.

She still rolls her eyes when Matt kisses her forehead, but settles in and gets comfortable when he pulls the comforter over their bodies.

X

Allison is officially Worried.

Capital W, Worried.

Going to Matt last night had provided a great distraction for the evening, and the following morning when they woke up tangled together with his morning wood pressing against her thigh. He got her off with his mouth first, and then again when he was buried to the hilt inside of her.

Unfortunately, that distraction only lasted until Matt headed to the shower. Allison had checked her phone for the messages she knew she'd be getting from Jenna and Elena. She ignored Elena's six messages, and was sending a quick "I'm fine, heading to school, see you at home later, xo" to Jenna, when she noticed Caroline still hadn't texted her back. That sick feeling came over her stomach again, but she pushed it down when Matt came back from the shower. Apparently, Vicki had left the house, so she was free to leave his room without the risk of his sister finding out about the two of them.

After a quick shower, Allison changed back into the clothes she'd worn to Matt's house the previous night – though after a quick glance around Matt's room, she was unable to find where her panties had been thrown, and was forced to go commando. She tossed her hair up into a bun, and was about to leave when she turned her head a certain way and it revealed a massive bruise just under her jaw line. It was pretty noticeable, and she knew that her nagging sister would never leave her alone if she caught sight of it. Spotting a hat on the chair in Matt's room, she took her hair from the bun, and put the hat on her head. Her hair provided enough of a shadow that it hid the hickey. Satisfied with her solution, Allison left Matt's room and headed to the door.

"You ready to go?" Matt asked, having been waiting in living for her. He noticed the hat, but didn't comment.

"Uhm," she pauses, "is it a good idea for us to get to school together?"

His brow furrowed, "Why not? I used to drive you to school all the time."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but you were dating Elena, and she'd be with us. If we show up in the same car, after I spent the night out of the house – I mean, Elena's been up my ass all summer, she'd definitely think something was suspicious."

He slowly nodded, choosing to ignore her comment about Elena. "Okay, fine. But at least let me take you as far Kent St." Kent is a block away from the high school.

Hesitantly, Allison agrees – the clock on her phone indicates it's almost time for the warning bell to ring and she was already going to get an earful from Jenna when she saw her, no need add missing class to that lecture. Plus, she wants to try to spot Caroline before class.

The drive was short, thankfully. Despite the intense sex they have, Matt and Allison's interactions outside of that were mostly awkward – she was often abrasive, he was kind of an emotional guy, and most of the time their conversations ended in arguments.

They chatted a little as he drove, nothing too heavy, and he kissed her before she got out of the truck – that's something he does, she's not sure why. They both know they're not-quite-friends with benefits, and it makes her uncomfortable when he gives her the same goodbye kiss he used to give Elena when he dropped her off somewhere.

Anyway, she got to school with a few minutes to spare, and set out to find Caroline.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter how much she wants to find Caroline at school, because the girl is nowhere to be found. Allison had even gone as far as to approach Bonnie, who she had never really gotten along with, the other girl way too judgy in Allison's opinion, between classes looking for her. It led to one the most pleasant interactions Allison had ever had with the other girl – who was apparently also apprehensive about Caroline's lack of text response and appearance at school. They agreed to let the other know if either of them heard from Caroline throughout the day, but also decided that as concerned as they were, neither of them would get the Sheriff involved, lest Caroline be having one of her flightier days.

By the time the end of the day rolled around, Allison still hadn't heard from Caroline, so here she was, walking across the football field to the area designated for cheer practice, and she was **Worried**. Also, clearly desperate since she was planning to crash cheer practice on the off-chance Caroline showed up.

After nodding to Bonnie, and ignoring her sister when _she_ showed up, Allison loitered by the bleachers while the cheerleaders started stretching. She was close enough to Bonnie and Elena that she overheard their conversation, making a mental note to either stay in her room or avoid her house entirely this evening, not wanting to get roped into the Get-To-Know-You dinner with Stefan. She'd been waiting for about fifteen minutes, checking her phone for messages, just about ready to head home, when she heard Bonnie exclaim, "Oh my God."

Allison looked up, and froze at the sight of the powder blue car that just rolled to a stop a few feet away. The car wasn't alarming, but the fact that it was driven by _Hot Creepy Guy_ , with Caroline – who currently had her tongue shoved down his throat – was.

"That must be the mystery guy from the Grill."

Elena scoffed, "That's no mystery guy. That's _Damon Salvatore_."

"Salvatore? As in Stefan?"

"Uh-huh."

Allison did not believe in premonitions – especially since that trash Sandra Bullock movie was released. The nightmare she had last night, and now these two showing up, clearly having spent the night together – it was just a coincidence. She'd seen Damon around a couple times, and he was creepy, and she was just worried about Caroline when she didn't message her back, and none of it was related.

So, why did the sight of Caroline with Damon Salvatore send shiver down her spine?

X

It's Friday, now, and some things have come to light.

After school the other day, after seeing Caroline with Damon, Allison had gone home and barricaded herself in her room to get high, only coming out to steal some of the leftovers of the meal Elena bought from the fancy Italian restaurant outside of town. She had successfully avoided running into anyone – but she had caught the tail-end of a conversation between the trio. The topic wasn't anything that stood out to her – Allison had overheard Bonnie talking to Elena about how her crazy, drunken Grams claimed to be a witch a million times, that's nothing new – but she had finally got to hear Stefan Salvatore speak, and after listening for a moment, Allison was _positive_ Stefan was the person she had heard in Vicki's room last week. She still didn't understand what he was doing there.

She took off upstairs with her plate of stolen food when the doorbell rang, creeping into her room while Elena answered the door. She hesitated before closing her bedroom door, the voices of Stefan and Elena, and party-crashers Caroline and Damon carrying up the stairs. Stefan was vehemently attempting to convince Elena to slam the door in Damon's face – or rather, not invite him in. Which was weird, right? Damon kept waiting for Elena to invite him in – like, why not just walk in anyway, since Caroline kept insisting?

Stefan's efforts were fruitless as Damon got his invitation into the house, anyway.

That was a couple days ago, and by this point Allison was convinced the Salvatore's were creepy creepers, who may or may be capable of hypnosis.

Her suspicions only worsened since then, as every night since the one before that, Allison has had nightmares about them. Mainly, starring Damon. And Caroline.

Thankfully, none of them have been like the first – with the heavy petting and stripping, anyway – but they usually feature blood and fangs and mind control. Allison has no idea why this is happening to her, but she's tried _everything_ to avoid dreaming – from smoking before bed, or taking one of Elena's left over from the car accident sleeping pills, to drinking coffee and energy drinks and staying up all night. She always falls asleep in the end, and she always dreams a terrible dream.

Oh, and Tanner is dead, no loss there. But, Allison dreamed about it. And her unconscious self apparently blames Damon Salvatore for that, too.

Anyway, today is the day of the Founder's party, and while Allison would be just as content to stay home and smoke up, or maybe see what Matt was up to, she somehow got roped into attending the party as Bonnie's date.

Wtf, right?

Caroline was supposed to be Bonnie's date, but now that she had Damon, and Elena had Stefan, Bonnie was dateless. So, Caroline called in a favor, swore she'd have a great time, and here Allison is, arm in arm with Bonnie Bennett on the steps of the Lockwood mansion. Hanging with Bonnie isn't her idea of a great time, but so far it hasn't been too bad. Keeping the conversation away from Elena, as well as Allison's most recent drug habits seem to be helping.

Bonnie looks cute in her white floral dress, the halter neckline looking flattering on her. She has her hair curled, down around her shoulders, a wallet tucked under her arm.

Allison had to dress up too, of course, but she's wearing a plain, dark purple dress with tiny straps, and black, open-toe wedges, and her mother's necklace. Her eye makeup is smoky but simple, and the hickey Matt left on her jaw has faded enough that a little bit of concealer was enough to cover it up, so she was able to put her curled hair in a pony-tail.

Allison and Bonnie make their way into the house, greeting Mrs. Lockwood and the Mayor – who is honestly such a creep, letting his eyes roam over her like she isn't 20+ years younger than him, like his wife isn't standing right next to them. The pair immediately head over to a server and steal a couple wine glasses off their treys.

They mingle a little bit, dance a little bit – shockingly – though they separate when Allison has to use the washroom and Bonnie wants to find another glass of wine.

When Allison finally finds a washroom in the massive house, Caroline and Elena are there, just outside, fixing their makeup at the mirror.

"Hey!" Caroline says with a smile, spotting her in the mirror as she applies her lip gloss.

Elena greets her the same, but Allison only looks at Caroline when she responds, as though her sister is invisible. Allison doesn't miss the disappointed frown that crosses her face.

"How's your night going, Care?"

"Great. Much better than Elena's, anyway. I was just saying that her and Stefan seem to be noticeably on the rocks."

Elena sighed, glancing at Caroline. "We're fine." Her brow furrowed though, eyes closing in on a mark on Caroline's shoulder, visible under the scarf she was wearing. "What is that?" She grabbed at the scarf, pulling it away from her skin, and revealing a bite mark scarred into her pale skin.

Caroline yanked herself away, "It's nothing."

"Caroline that is _not_ nothing." Elena countered, sternly. "Did somebody hurt you?"

Allison was quiet, collecting her thoughts. That was a bite mark. A _bite mark_. Like someone had taken their teeth and ripped into her throat. Like she dreamed of Damon doing.

"No, okay, it's nothing," Caroline said, her voice frantic. "It's just, my mom would kill me."

As Caroline leaned forward to continue to fix her lip gloss, Elena's eyes zeroed in on something under the open-knit sweater she was wearing. Pulling it down before Caroline could react, Elena revealed another bite mark, identical to the one on her neck.

"Did _Damon_ hurt you?" Elena asked, appalled.

"No, no," the blonde replied, "of course not." As Elena kept grabbing at her, Caroline collected her stuff and snapped, "Just leave me alone, okay?" She turned to leave.

Allison blocked her, putting her hands on her shoulders. The brunette's hands were shaking, not in fear, but anger.

"Caroline." She said softly, making eye contact with her friend. "Did Damon hurt you? Did he do anything to you that you said no to, that you didn't want him to do?" Caroline opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it again – conflict clear in her eyes. She wasn't supposed to say anything about Damon, but she had never lied to Allison before and she didn't want to start now.

"It's me, Caroline. You can tell me anything, you know that."

Caroline nodded, tears springing to her eyes. Allison and Elena couldn't know the war going on inside her head, wanting to tell them what Damon did to her, but the compulsion like a lock on her mind.

"Was it Damon?"

There a long pause, and Caroline broke through the compulsion for a split second, and she nodded.

And suddenly, Damon Salvatore was a dead man walking. Allison's face hardened, her eyes darkening. She looked over to Elena, "Take Caroline home, right now. Don't stop to say goodbye to Stefan, just go. I'll take care of it."

After she got over the shock of her sister talking to her after months of silence, Elena rushed over the few steps, stopping and wrapping Caroline in a hug. The girl was full on sobbing now.

"I can't just leave, Allison. I have to do something, Damon is dangerous."

Allison rolled her eyes, glaring at her sister. "I will handle Damon, okay? I just need you to take care of Caroline."

"But-"

"Please, Elena. Just take her home, stay with her, and I'll be there after."

Elena was still hesitating, so Allison pulled out the big guns – "If you do this, we'll go back to normal, me and you. Like before the accident. For the most part, anyway." Allison wasn't sure if her promise was real or not.

Finally, her sister nodded, "I'll take her out the back, to avoid Liz. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to fucking **kill** him."

X

When Allison was a little girl, and she had trouble sleeping, her father would tell her stories, read from the journal of their ancestor.

They were stories about a time when demons roamed the streets of Mystic Falls, terrorizing the residents of the cozy town. Demons that could only come out in the dark, would burn in the sunlight, who drank the blood of the townspeople, who had incredible power over a humans' mind. He told stories of how the brave members of the Founding Families banned together and fought to save their town, rounding up the demons, locking them in Fell's Church, and burning the building down with them inside.

It makes sense, now. Now that she wasn't playing dumb, in denial. Her father had attempted to prepare her for this.

The animal attacks outside of town, the bodies drained of blood.

Vicki being attacked, Vicki being – compelled, she knows now.

Caroline's scars, the confusion. Her fear.

They had just arrived in town when it all started.

Stefan and Damon Salvatore were _vampires_.

X

Allison was a woman possessed – she walked like in a trance, through the Lockwood estate, the sound of her heart beat loud in her own ears. She stopped once, in the dinning hall to grab something off the table, before making her way outside. The backyard was illuminated by fairy lights, with an area for dancing, there's a drinks table, and a table with finger food. It doesn't take long to spot him.

Damon Salvatore was standing by the drinks table, a glass of champagne in hand. He had a black suit on, something designer, but nothing too ostentatious. She briefly wondered how someone so beautiful could be such a vicious monster. He looked over at her, his bright blue eyes striking as ever, smirking when she started in his direction – one hand behind her back. He didn't think anything of it.

"Damon, right?" she asked, smile on her face. "You're Caroline's boyfriend? She's my best friend, you know."

"I'm a little old for the term _boy_ friend, but sure."

"Right, you're older. Care always did go for the older guys. It's something her and I have in common, actually." Her smile dropped into a smirk, one to rival his own, and she stepped closer, directly in front of him, turning her back on the party going on behind her. They were a few feet away from the closest people, and the music was loud.

His smirk widened, "Are you hitting on your _BFF's_ boyfriend?" He asked, his tone mocking.

He glanced around the room, and, taking the opportunity to catch him by surprise, she swung her hand out from behind her back, using all her strength to bury the knife she'd been concealing into his chest – right where his heart should be. He wasn't expecting it, had been keeping an eye out for Stefan when she struck.

He groaned, she smiled – a genuine smile. It may not kill him, but it would still hurt.

He looked up at her, fury blazing in his ice blue eyes, and grabbed onto her arms, vamp-speeding them past the bushes and slamming her against the house.

Her back protested, but she didn't make a sound.

He pulled the knife out, blood ruining the white shirt he wore as his skin – and heart organ – repaired. So, it was true, she was right. Johnathon Gilbert was not insane. Vampire's were real.

"I should kill you for that." He threatened, holding the pointed end of the knife against her stomach. He looked into her eyes, "But first, why did you stab me?" He compelled the truth.

She remained silent, raising an eyebrow, not giving into the compulsion. His brow furrowed in confusion. He glanced at her locket, and inhaled deeply – he couldn't smell vervain on it. Maybe she drank the stuff, a shame really, because her blood smelled amazing, and he had been looking forward to tasting it. Anyway, he pushed the knife harder against her, enough force to slice through the thin material of her dress and cut into her skin.

She grit her teeth, refusing to make a sound.

He started to open his mouth again, but he suddenly dropped to the ground, moaning in pain.

Stefan stood behind him, tucking a now empty, vervain filled syringe into his pocket. He had taken a small vile of the herb and put it in Caroline's drink, planning to dose Damon that way, but had taken extra as a precaution. He hadn't heard what they spoke about, or Damon's failed attempt at compulsion, having been looking for Elena when he smelled Allison's blood.

Stefan stepped forward, capturing her eyes the same way Damon had done.

Stefan would fail the same way Damon had, too. He tried to compel her to remember having too much to drink, and to forget ever talking to Damon. She responded the way she remembered Vicki did, repeating his instructions in a monotone voice. She blinked, and they were gone, Stefan having picked Damon up and carried him away.

Allison wasn't sure what Stefan had done to his brother, but it looked like it hurt more than her knife did, so she was satisfied for the moment.

She shook her head, placing a hand over the wound on her stomach. It was still bleeding – he had gotten her deeper than she thought. She would have to change before she went to Caroline's.

X

After placing a large bandage on her stomach, Allison changed out of her dress – throwing it away – and pulled on sweat pants and an old t-shirt. She grabbed an over night bag, stole Jenna's not-so-secret bottle of alcohol from her closet, and made an emergency stop at one of those 24-hour convenience stores for an extra-large tub of chunky monkey and couple family size bags of chips before booking it to Caroline's house.

Elena headed home when she arrived, understanding that Caroline needed Allison to her self, but making her swear she'd tell her what happened when she got home.

Caroline and Allison stayed up late watching John Hughes movies and eating and drinking their weights in junk food and vodka. Early Saturday morning, when they finally fell asleep, Allison dreamed of Damon being locked away, in pain, and unable to hurt anyone.

It was a good dream.

* * *

 **There's chapter three!**

 **I'm so sorry about how long it took for me to get it up, but I am in university and had 5 midterms within 2 weeks, and I got sick coming on the end there and was so lethargic I barely got out of bed. I'm gonna try and get the next chapter up sooner.**

 **Also, I just wanna say a couple things: one, I know the end of the chapter could've been better written, but I wasn't sure how to end it, because everything I thought about segued into another episode, and I figured I'd left y'all hanging long enough and it would've taken a little longer to keep writing. Second: Allison knows about vampires! I wanted her to figure it out before Elena, because in my opinion she's smarter and has seen/heard enough that could lead her to Stefan and Damon's secret. The part with her dad is going to a be a big thing later on, too. And lastly, this is going to be a bit of a _slow_ burn romance, because so far Allison is just seeing Damon as an enemy. He hurt Caroline, who she is very protective of, he's killed people, and now he's tried to hurt her, too. So even if she gets past those last two things, the whole Caroline thing is going to tough for her to get over.**

 **As always, please favorite, follow, and leave me your thoughts! What do you guys think of the way Allison handled being (lightly) stabbed, and finding out about vampires?**

 **Thanks, xo**


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